Northern Cheyenne Tribal Leadership Crisis Exposes Governance Breakdown and Risks Federal Funding

The Northern Cheyenne Tribe in southeast Montana is engulfed in a leadership crisis that not only fractures its own community but also raises serious questions about the integrity of tribal governance at large and its consequences for American taxpayers. When Tribal Sovereignty Meets Internal Chaos, Who Holds the Reins? The crisis began last spring when President Gene Small initiated an audit into the tribal council’s use of federal COVID-19 relief funds. This move—championed by Small as a step toward transparency—was met with fierce resistance from council members who saw their authority challenged. What followed was a rapid unraveling of order:...